National Institute on Drug Abuse Intramural Research Program

Current Staff

Yeka Aponte, Ph.D.

Chief, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Section
yeka.aponte@nih.gov

Sarah Sarsfield, M.S.

Biologist and Laboratory Manager, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Section
sarah.sarsfield@nih.gov

Mia Jefferson

Administrative Officer, Administrative Management Branch
mia.jefferson@nih.gov

Pamela Miranda Tapia, Ph.D.

Visiting Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Section
pamela.mirandatapia@nih.gov

Aketzali Garcia, Ph.D.

Visiting Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Section
diana.garciagutierrez@nih.gov

Yasmin Padovan-Hernandez

JHU Neuroscience Graduate Student, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Section
yasmin.padovanhernandez@nih.gov

Benjamin Kilgore

Postbaccalaureate IRTA Research Fellow, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Section
benjamin.kilgore@nih.gov

Hannah Kim

Postbaccalaureate IRTA Research Fellow, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Section

Caitlin Tedesco

Pre-doctoral Visiting Fellow, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Section
caitlin.tedesco@nih.gov

Angela Taeyeon Kim

NIDA-UMBC Research Intern, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Section
angela.kim3@nih.gov

Summer Interns

Annette Park

2023 Summer Intern, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit
annette.park@nih.gov

Audrey Rips-Goodwin

2024 Summer Intern, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit
audrey.rips-goodwin@nih.gov

Shreya Nuli

2023 Summer Intern, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Mia Gemayel

2023 Summer Intern, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

De’jah Coates

2022 Summer Intern, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Chinmay Bakshi

2021 Summer Intern, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Anika Park

2021-2022 Summer Intern, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Lillian Behan

2019 Summer Volunteer, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Charity Russell

2019 Summer Intern, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Michael Mutersbaugh

2018 Summer Intern, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Anjali Gajendiran

2018 Summer Intern, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Ian Linville

2018 Summer Intern, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Meghna Mathews

2018 Summer Intern, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Julius Gingles

2017 Summer Intern, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Kayla Hamilton

2016 & 2017 Summer Intern, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Marcello Ma

2016 & 2017 Summer Intern, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Kevin Doan

2016 Summer Volunteer, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Jay Gupta

2015 Summer Intern, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Zavier Pope

2015 Summer Intern, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Alumni

Lydia Erbaugh

Former Postbaccalaureate IRTA Research Fellow, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Section

Danielle Wilson

Former NIDA-UMBC Research Intern, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Section

Cindy Ambriz

Former Administrative Laboratory Manager, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Megan Anderson

Former Postbaccalaureate IRTA Research Fellow, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Miguel Arenivar

Former Postbaccalaureate IRTA Research Fellow, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Cara Borja

Former Postbaccalaureate IRTA Research Fellow, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Diana Burk, M. Phil, Ph.D.

Former Predoctoral IRTA Research Fellow, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Nicholas Edwards, Ph.D.

Former NIH-Brown GPP Graduate Student, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Adrianna Hayden, M.S.

Former Postbaccalaureate IRTA Research Fellow, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Alexandre Kisner, Ph.D.

Former Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Laura Koekkoek

Former Special Volunteer, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Bluma Kruk

Former Volunteer, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Fabien Naneix, Ph.D.

Former Special Volunteer, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

David Ottenheimer, Ph.D.

Former JHU Rotation Student, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Michele Petrella

Former Predoctoral Visiting Fellow, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Justin Siemian, Ph.D.

Former Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit
justin.siemian@nih.gov

Julia Slocomb, Ph.D.

Former NIH-JHU GPP Graduate Student, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Margo Slomp

Former Predoctoral Visiting Fellow, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Lorena Tagle, M.D.

Former Postbaccalaureate IRTA Research Fellow, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Prerna (Niki) Yadav

Former Postbaccalaureate IRTA Research Fellow, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Maria Laura Zuccoli, M.D., Ph.D.

Former Predoctoral Visiting Fellow, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Unit

Brenton Laing, Ph.D.

Former Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Section
brenton.laing@nih.gov

Aishwarya Jayan

Former Postbaccalaureate IRTA Research Fellow, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Section
aishwarya.jayan@nih.gov

Andrew Margolis

Former Postbaccalaureate IRTA Research Fellow, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Section
andrew.margolis@nih.gov

Maximillian Berenschot-Bucciero

Former Postbaccalaureate IRTA Research Fellow, Neuronal Circuits and Behavior Section
maximillian.berenschot-bucciero@nih.gov